


Humming

by evilwriter37



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Broken Bones, Drugging, F/M, Whump, hiccup!whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:35:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26552932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilwriter37/pseuds/evilwriter37
Summary: Hiccup is drugged and tortured by Grimmel for information, but is left behind when he refuses to talk. Astrid and the Riders have to nurse him back to health, but he has wounds that they don't know about.
Relationships: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III & Toothless, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Astrid Hofferson
Comments: 17
Kudos: 107





	Humming

Astrid had searched frantically through the caverns they’d come to, not finding anything. But no, no! He had to be here! And then she came to the last cavern, Stormfly at her back. The place had been cleared out, left abandoned. Grimmel and his men must have left the place when the Dragon Riders came too close, not wanting anyone to be captured and reveal information. That means they could have taken Hiccup with them…

Astrid heart pounded as she came to the last cavern. If he wasn’t here…

He was! There was Hiccup! He was hanging from chains connected to a hook in the roof of the cave, and hanging was a good word to use. He had his one foot underneath him, but everything in him sagged, and his head was drooping down.

“Hiccup?”

_ Oh gods, don’t be dead, don’t be dead.  _ That would be terribly cruel, if Grimmel had left Hiccup’s dead body for them to find. 

She went to him as fast as she could, breathing hard. A hand under his chin to lift his head up, and she saw that his eyes were open, a glassy look in them, but he was breathing. He was alive.

“Hiccup?” All his clothes were still on him, and there didn’t appear to be any blood. What was this? Had he been drugged?

He looked like he tried moving his mouth, but nothing came out. So, yes, he was drugged, but with what, Astrid didn’t know. Time to get him out of here. 

She used two of her hair pins to pick the locks to his chains, unable to find a key anywhere, and too impatient to try for much longer. He fell into her arms as deadweight, and Astrid grunted as she hefted him up. He seemed unhurt save for being drugged, but she wondered what Grimmel had gotten out of him. Maybe he had all the information he needed from him and that’s why he had left him here.

Or maybe he was bait…

Either way, Astrid had to get him out of here fast. He’d be safer back at their encampment. She and the Dragon Riders had been looking for Hiccup for almost 3 days now, and it was a relief to find him. Though, she wondered when he’d be able to talk again, when he’d be able to tell them all that had transpired. 

Astrid carefully got Hiccup over Stormfly’s back, then mounted her dragon. She found the rest of the Dragon Riders at the mouth of the cave system, waiting for her, clearly not having found anything else of import. 

“You got Hiccup!” Fishlegs cried excitedly.

“Yeah, but what’s wrong with him?” Tuffnut asked. Clearly the Riders could tell that something was, what with him resting against Astrid the way he was, his eyes misted and unmoving. 

“He’s been drugged,” Astrid said. “I don’t know what with. We have to get back to the encampment and get to Gothi.”

The Riders nodded, and they took off, Astrid carefully holding Hiccup against her chest. 

  
  


Hiccup lay in his tent in Berk’s encampment, on his back, staring up at the ceiling because there was nothing else to do. Gothi had examined him, and said the drug would take about a week to wear off. Hiccup couldn’t wait a week. He couldn’t wait another minute.

He was in absolute agony. Gothi and his friends hadn’t checked under his clothes, probably not wanting to do so without his consent, and he couldn’t give consent while he was like this. But gods, he wished they had checked. He hurt abominably. Grimmel had hurt him. There were probably bones broken. His chest and abdomen ached and burned like nothing he’d ever felt before, and his right hip was on fire. He’d used a hammer on him, to get information out of him. Hiccup hadn’t spoken, and then he’d drugged him. In the beginnings of the drug, he could have spoken, could have spilled secrets, like the location of Berk’s people, but he hadn’t. So, Grimmel had left him there, thinking him useless. 

And Hiccup was useless now at least, with the drug in his system. He didn’t even know what it was. Some type of dragon venom, probably. Toothless hadn’t been captured with him, was now resting by his side. Well, resting couldn’t really be the word for it. He was sniffing over him and rumbling with concern. He knew something was wrong, but Hiccup couldn’t use the words to tell him what, couldn’t tell him to go get Gothi or one of his friends. 

So he laid there in agony, wanting to cry but unable to. The drug had impeded most of his functions, including that of his tears it seemed. But if he could cry, then his friends would know something was wrong. 

But he couldn’t. He was stuck like this, in absolute anguish, trapped within his own body. A week. A  _ week _ . He couldn’t do this for a whole week, couldn’t live with his injuries not being tended to. If someone could just give him something for the pain… But they didn’t know he was in pain. They had no way of knowing. Damn his friends and their sensibilities. Usually, he would have been glad that they hadn’t done anything to his body without his consent, but now, he wanted them to, very badly. Consent or no, they needed to check him over. 

Toothless left, and Hiccup didn’t know why. He wanted to call to him, to get him to come back. Hopefully he wasn’t trying to go prancing around with the Light Fury again. Certainly he wouldn’t abandon him for that in his time of need… Right?

In a few minutes, Hiccup’s worries were ceased, as Toothless returned with Astrid trailing behind him. Hiccup wanted to call to her, to tell her to get Gothi, tell her how much pain he was in. But all he could do was move his eyes in her direction and let her know that he knew of her presence. 

_ Astrid, gods, please help me. Please help. _

“Toothless came to get me,” Astrid told him even though he couldn’t respond. “Seemed pretty worried about you being left on your own.” She sat on the end of his makeshift bed, took his limp hand in hers. “I was worried too.”

_ If you’re worried, then check under my clothes _ . 

Hiccup couldn’t say this though, could make no expression to reveal what he was feeling. His facial muscles were just limp, leaving his face blank and tired-looking. He wanted to squeeze Astrid’s hand, give her some sort of sign that something was wrong, but he was stuck. He might as well have been gagged and caged. It was how he felt. Forget his friends and their sensibilities. Damn Grimmel! Damn him and his torture technique and his drugs! He drugged dragons, so of course he would have no qualms about drugging people. Wherever he was, he was probably getting some sly enjoyment out of Hiccup suffering like this. He’d been alone in that cave for almost a day, no food, no water, unable to call out for help, or get help on his own. 

Once he’d returned home, being fed had left him feeling terribly ashamed and embarrassed. His friends, mostly Astrid, had had to open his mouth for him, made sure he’d chewed slowly, and then massage his throat to help him swallow. It had been an agonizingly long, tedious process. Hiccup was stressed about when it would have to happen again. Relieving himself had been no better. His male friends had helped him with that, but his injuries weren’t anywhere on his lower half. If they would just remove his shirt they would know! But they hadn’t. Maybe they would for bathing at some point, would see what had been done to him. 

But for now he was stuck, and when he closed his eyes he swore Grimmel was still hitting him with that hammer. 

  
  


_ Day 3 _

Hiccup wanted to groan, but no sound would come out. He wanted to moan, to scream, to cry and sob and wail. Oh, he was hurting so badly, but no one had taken off his numerous belts and lifted off his shirt. If someone could just  _ please  _ take the belts off. They were hurting so badly, impeding his breathing. He felt like he had to cough, but couldn’t. Besides, that would just hurt his ribs even more, so maybe that was a good thing. But by the gods, he needed medical attention!

One of his friends stayed by his side at all times, as did Toothless. It was comforting having their presence, but it was also driving him mad. He couldn’t talk to them, couldn’t tell them just how much pain he was in. He was so stuck. Stuck, stuck, stuck. 

Hiccup began humming to himself in his head. Any song, ballad, or epic he could remember, just to keep himself distracted. The one he really liked was the one about him and Toothless, especially the parts about Toothless. He would look at his dragon while he silently hummed those parts, try to reach out his hand, but he couldn’t move it. He just wished he could fucking  _ move _ .

Currently, Tuffnut was with him, regaling him of tales of things he and Ruffnut had done to cause havoc around the encampment, that was quickly turning into a new village. Hiccup wished he could oversee the plans and the building, figure out where things was going, but he was stuck here. 

Toothless was with Hiccup too. He didn’t let Hiccup ever be alone, which Hiccup was glad for. But if someone could just check under his shirt…

He continued humming inside his head.

  
  


_ Day 5 _

Hiccup thought he had gotten very good at the epics and ballads, at least, in his head. He didn’t have much of a voice for singing.

Though, he wished right now he had a voice at all. He was losing it with the pain. It was so persistent, so real and aching and burning. And no one knew. No one knew but him and Toothless, and Toothless couldn’t tell anyone. Toothless couldn’t do anything except rub against his face and lick him and coo. He was trying his best to comfort him, but it wasn’t a potion for pain, or a bandage. It was just physical comfort. 

Hiccup hated this so much. He was glad the effect of the drug would be gone in a few days. The first thing he would do would be to send for Gothi. Or maybe piss on his own, or eat on his own. No, Gothi first, then all that. He hated others having to take care of him in such a degrading, shameful way. He was like an infant, vulnerable to the whims of those around him, at the mercy of the universe. 

He couldn’t sleep at night, but who could blame him with the extreme pain he was feeling? He would doze, then come out of sleep with a sharp jab in his abdomen or his hip. The hammer would come back, would crack down on him, sending him fully back into consciousness. 

Certainly his friends had noticed the darkening circles around his eyes. Snotlout had mentioned it, but of course, there was nothing to be done. They had no idea. They had absolutely no idea. 

And so, Hiccup hummed, and waited for the hammer to come crashing down.

  
  


_ Day 7 _

Hiccup curled his fingers, his toes. His humming came out for real now, in his voice. He… he was able to move again!

Or, at least a little bit. He opened his mouth, to speak, to wake Astrid who slept beside him and tell her to get Gothi. 

“G-Gothi.” The word didn’t want to come out. His tongue still felt heavy, but much more maneuverable than before. “Gothi.”

“Mm?” Astrid lifted her head, hair a mess. “Hiccup, what is it?”

Tears in his eyes. “Please. Gothi.” 

Astrid seemed much more awake at his request. She shuffled up out of the bed, quickly ran fingers through her hair and began braiding it. Toothless looked at Hiccup, ran his nose under his fingers, and Hiccup was able to curl those fingers and give him a little scratch. 

Astrid left in a rush, and Hiccup didn’t know if he was crying in relief or pain. Tears absolutely gushed down his face now that they could be free, as if they were trying to make up for the week of not being there. He sobbed, and that tore at his chest, made the pain unbearable. He clutched at his chest, at his hip, wanting to scream, but holding it in. 

To deal with the pain, he hummed. He just hummed. The ballads came out broken now, ruined by hiccups and sobs. But still, he hummed. 

Hiccup didn’t know how long it was until Gothi returned. He’d never been happier to see her. He began undoing his belts, his fingers shaking and fumbling. He was gaining more of his function back little by little, but his body was weak from days in bed.

“Hiccup, what is it?” Astrid asked. “What’s wrong?”

“E-everything hurts.” He realized that he couldn’t sit up, that they would have to cut his shirt open. “My ribs, my hip…”

“Oh gods, Hiccup.” Astrid slapped her hand to her head. “We didn’t even think to check! We thought that you looked okay. We didn’t want to take your clothes off without your consent. I…”

“Please.”

That cut off Astrid’s rambling. She drew her knife, began quickly and efficiently cutting Hiccup’s shirt off of him. Once it came open, it revealed black and blue bruising across his ribs and his right hip. Gothi came forward, looked him over, shook her head. She pointed at Astrid, looking ready to hit her over the head with her staff.

“I know it was my idea!” Astrid cried. She seemed incredibly distressed to be seeing Hiccup so hurt. And there was the distress of knowing that he’d been hurt this whole time and none of them had known or done anything. “Just… just fix him!”

The next hour or so was filled with painful touches from Gothi, bandage wraps, and a potion for the pain. Finally, in a new shirt, Hiccup lay back with a sigh. Astrid sat beside him.

“Hiccup, I am so,  _ so  _ sorry.” Astrid was teary-eyed. Hiccup no longer was. The potion for pain was working. She took his hand, and Hiccup was able to squeeze it this time. He was still humming inside his head.

“It’s… okay.”

Astrid shook her head. “No, no it’s not. We should have checked you over, consent or no.”

Hiccup didn’t know what to say to her. He just began humming out loud. Astrid gave him a strange look at that, but didn’t ask. In the future, whenever he did hum, which was frequently, no one ever asked. 

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Mouthing (Along)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26628505) by [ZapstarBopstar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZapstarBopstar/pseuds/ZapstarBopstar)




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